Support for knife assembly in cheese processing equipment

ABSTRACT

A carriage is mounted for movement between opposite ends of a cheese processing vat. A knife assembly is suspended from the carriage and the support for the knife assembly includes an elongated, circular in cross section member extending parallel to the direction of travel of the carriage and connection of the knife assembly to that elongated member is made through a bracket assembly having a tubular sleeve surrounding and slideable on that member. The connection between the knife and the bracket assemblies is such that as the carriage moves relative to the vat, tending to move the knife assembly through a medium in the vat, a force is generated which binds the tubular sleeve of the bracket assembly on the elongated support member thereby locking the bracket assembly on the support so that the knife assembly is carried through the vat by the carriage. The binding engagement with the support can be selectively released to permit relative movement of the support and the knife assembly to properly position the knife assembly for complete travel up to the opposite longitudinal ends of the vat.

United States Patent 1 7 Loichinger July 10, 1973 SUPPORT FOR KNIFEASSEMBLY IN CHEESE PROCESSING EQUIPMENT [75] Inventor: Fred A.Loichinger, Manitowoc,

Wis.

[73] Assignee: Stoelting Brothers Company, Kiel,

- Wis.

[22] Filed: May 24, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 256,326

[52] US. Cl. 31/48 [51] Int. Cl. A01j 25/02 [58] Field of Search 119/56R; 31/48,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES. PATENTS 3,476,272 l1/l969 Puta119/56 R 3,490,751 l/197O Thomson 3l/48 2,488,053 1l/l949 Dampow 31/482,007,422 7/1935 Dampow 31/48 Primary Examiner-Robert Peshock AssistantExaminer-J. Q. Lever Attorney-John W. Michael, Joseph A. Gemignani etal.

[5 7 ABSTRACT A carriage is mounted for movement between opposite endsof a cheese processing vat. A knife assembly is suspended fromthecarriage and the support for the knife assembly includes-anelongated, circular in cross section member extending parallel to thedirection of travel of the carriage and connection of the knife assemblyto that elongated member is made through a bracket assembly having atubular sleeve surrounding and slideable on that member. The connectionbetween the knife and the bracket assemblies is such that as thecarriage moves relative to the vat, tending to move the knife assemblythrough a medium in the vat, a force is generated which binds thetubular sleeve of the bracket assembly on the elongated support memberthereby locking the bracket assembly on the support so that the knifeassembly is carried through the vat-by thecarriage. The bindingengagement with the support can be selectively released to permitrelative movement of the support and the knife assembly to properlyposition the knife assembly for complete travel up to the oppositelongitudinal ends of the vat.

. 8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures f' SUPPORT FOR KNIFE ASSEMBLY IN CHEESEPROCESSING EQUIPMENT BACKGROUND OF INVENTION This invention relates tocheese processing equipment and, more particularly, to arrangements forsupporting curd knives with respect to a cheese processing vat.

Much of the processing of various types of cheese, cottage, cheddar,swiss, etc., is carried out in vats. At various stages in theprocessing, the curd tends to amalgamate into a somewhat homogeneousmass. Since the curd is best processed at various stages in chunk form,this amalgamation is undesirable. Common practice has been to utilizewire structure knives, or cutters, which are drawn through the curd inthe vat to cut the curd into cubes.

Among the problems with prior art cutting arrangements has been toautomate the cutting operation as much as possible while insuring acomplete and thoror be apparent from, the specification and claims, as

ough cut through all of the curd contained in the vat.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Among the general objects of this invention is toprovide a generally automated arrangement for moving a curd knifeassembly through a vat and, moreover, to do so in a manner which insuresthorough cutting of all of the medium contained in the vat.

For the achievement of these and other objects, this invention proposesan arrangement for supporting a knife assembly from a carriage such thatthe knife assembly is movable with the carriage to achieve the cuttingoperation and also providing for selective release of the knife assemblyfor relative movement between it and the carriage to properly positionthe knife assembly to insure complete travel of that assembly betweenthe opposite ends of the processing vat. More specifically, a track isprovided along an elongated vat and a carriage is mounted for movementalong that track. A knife assembly is mounted on an elongated supportwhich is in turn connected to the carriage. The connection between theknife assembly and the elongated support member is such that the knifeassembly is connected for joint movement with the carriage as the latermoves along the track but can be selectively released to permit thecarriage and correspondingly the support assembly, to move relative tothe knife assembly to position the knife assembly for movement up to theopposite ends of the vat.

Preferably, the support assembly includes an elongated, generallycircular in cross section portion and a generally tubular sleeve isengaged on that elongated portion for sliding movement thereon. Thesleeve is connected to a bracket assembly which engages and supports theknife assembly. The connection between the bracket and knife assembliesis such that a force is transmitted to the sleeve, in response tocarriage movement tending to move the knife assembly through the vat,which binds the sleeve on the elongated support portion so that theknife assembly moves jointly with i the carriage. At both of the extremeends of travel of the carriage, the sleeve can be released from itsbinding engagement on the elongated support member and held to permitthe latter to move freely and thus position the carriage and the supportassembly such that when the sleeve again binds on the elongated supportmember the knife assembly can be moved completely up to the end of thevat.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in,

will obvious modifications of the embodiment shown in the drawings, inwhich: 7

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a processing vat assembly incorporatingthis invention;

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With particular reference to thedrawings, a conventional cheese processing vat 10 includes opposite ends12 and 14 and side walls 16 and 18. The ends of vat 10 are squared.

A track 20 is positioned above and extends the length of vat 10.Self-propelled carriage 22 is engaged on track 20 for movement along theentire length thereof in both directions. Track 20 and carriage 22 canbe of any conventional construction and hence the details thereof havenot been illustrated and will not be described. v

A pair of curd knives 24 and 26 are suspended from carriage 22 in amanner to be described more completely hereinafter. Curd knives 24 and26 can be of any conventional construction. For purposes ofunderstanding this invention a general description of the knives shouldbe sufficient. More particular, each of the knife assemblies 24 and 26includes a plurality of wires, 28 in assembly 24 and 30 in assembly 26.These wires are spaced apart to attribute a generally open constructionto the knives with the wires providing the cutting edges. As can be seenin FIG. 2, wires 28 are arranged vertically in knife assembly 24 whereaswires 30 of knife assembly 36 are arranged horizontally. When the knifeassemblies are drawn through curd 32 contained in vat 10, wires 28 and30 make vertical and horizontal cuts through the curd. After the kniveshave completed their travel in one direction, their position will bereversed and they will again traverse the length of the vat cutting thecurd into elongated rectangular shaped strips. After this cuttingoperation, the curd will be cut at right angles to the cuts justdescribed to render the curd into a cube shape.

The problem with such cutting assemblies is to insure complete cuttingof the curd up to the ends of the vat. As can be seen from a study ofFIG. 1, if the knife assemblies are supported such that they will travelup to one of the ends of the vat, the position of the knife assembliesrelative to the carriage will then be such that they cannot do the sameat the opposite end of the vat. In order to solve this problem, and topermit the knife assemblies to be supported from a conventional carriagei.e., a carriage which can also support pusher and steering paddleassemblies for operation in the vat, a

support assembly is proposed whereby the knives are supported for jointmovement with the carriage relative to the vat but can be released formovement relative to the carriage to be positioned such as may berequired for travel up to the ends of the vat.

More particularly, an elongated support assembly 34 is provided on eachside of carriage 22, i.e. one such support assembly for each of theknife assemblies. Since the support assemblies and their connection tothe knife assemblies are identical, only one will be described. Supportassembly 34 includes first and second elongated rods 36 and 38. Rod 38has a generally circular cross section. Rods 36 and 38 areinterconnected by end plates 40 and 42, with rod 38 having a boltedconnection to the end plates for reasons which will appear hereinafter.Two hollow tubes 44 and 46 are attached to rod 36. Mounting bracketassembly 48 is connected to and depends from carriage 22 and includes apair of laterally projecting arms 50 and 52. Tubes 44 and 46 of thesupport assembly are spaced apart so as to fit over arms 50 and 52 toconnect the support assembly 44 to the bracket assembly andcorrespondingly to the carriage for movement therewith. This provides arelatively simple releasable connection between the knife supportassembly and the carriage assembly.

Knife assemblies 24 and 26 include a vertically extending arm 54 and 56.These arms engage a second mounting bracket assembly 58 through whichthe actual connection of the knife assemblies to the support isaccomplished. More specifically, bracket assembly 58 includes a sleeve60 which fits around rod 38 but has a length which is substantially lessthan the length of the rod. Portion 60 has a sliding fit on rod 38 sothat it is capable of moving on the rod. The bracket assembly alsoincludes spaced plates 62 and 64, the latter connected to tubular member60 and the two plates are interconnected by central, verticallyextending brace 66. The upper ends of plates 62 and 64 are notched suchthat they together with brace 66 define upwardly opening notches 68 and70 on opposite sides of brace 66. Generally rectangular plates 72 and 74are attached to the tops of arms 54 and 56 and have a size andconfiguration generally similar to notches 68 and 70 so that they can bepositioned in those notches. Accordingly, the knife assemblies can bepositioned relative to bracket assembly 58 such that either blocks 72 or74 fit into notches 68 or 70 with arm 54 or 56'extending downwardlyalong one of the opposite sides of brace 66.

If the direction of travel of the carriage is to the left as viewed inthe drawings, the arms of the knife assembly, Le. 54 or 56, will bepositioned in notches 70.

As can be viewed in FIG. 3, the bore of sleeve 60 is preferably madesomewhat larger than the circumference of rod 38 and nylon bushing 76and 78 are provided at the opposite ends of the sleeve to provide aclose sliding fit.

With the construction described to this point, it will be noted that thebracket assembly 58 can be moved longitudinally along rod 38 to positionit at any given point relative to the carriage. After it has beenpositioned and the knife assembly connected in the notch and registerconnection provided by plates 72 and 74 and notches 68 and 70, carriagemovement can be initiated. As viewed in FIG. 1, as the carriage moves tothe left supportassembly 34 will move with the carriage while the loadof the knife assembly and bracket assembly 58 will provide some dragbetween the sleeves 60 and rods 38. This drag will tend to draw theknife assemblies through the curd 32. Arm 54 abutting brace 66 willcreate a force tending to bind the sleeve 60 on rod 38 to counteract anytendency of the sleeve to slide on the rod. By virtue of this bindingaction, the bracket assembly and consequently the knife assembly, willmove jointly with support assembly 34 and the carriage. With the knifeassemblies having started with the relationship with the carriageillustrated by the full lines in FIG. 1, when the carriage reaches theextreme end of its travel to the left the knife assembly will be spaceda considerable distance from end 12 of the vat (position A in FIG. 1).At this point, bracket assembly 58 can be held and the carriagereversed, or moved to the right. The bracket being held, rod 38 slidesfreely through sleeve 60. After the carriage has been backed to theright a sufiicient distance, it is stopped, bracket assembly 58released, and the carriage again driven to the left which will producethe binding action of sleeve 60 on rod 38 and move the knife assembliesto position B at the extreme left end of the vat. With the cut havingbeen taken completely through the length of the vat, blade assemblies 24and 26 can be reversed in position and again driven the length of thevat in the same manner as just described.

The knife assembly supports can be readily assembled onto and removedfrom the carriage by virtue of the rod and tube connections 50, 52 and44, 46. Similarly bracket assembly 58 can be replaced by merelyloosening bolt 80 and sliding sleeve 60 off of rod 38. Although but oneembodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described,it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit ofthe invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1. Apparatus of the type described comprising, in combination,7

an elongated vat, a track extending along said vat, a carriage mountedfor movement along said track, a curd knife assembly, a support assemblyhaving a longitudinal extension, a mounting bracket assembly attached toand movable with said carriage and connecting said support assembly tosaid carriage for movement therewith and with the longitudinal extensionof said support assembly generally parallel to the longitudinalextension of said vat, and means connecting said curd knife assembly tosaid support assembly for movement jointly therewith and selectively formovement relative thereto so that atopposite ends of said vat relativemovement between said curd knife assembly and said mounting bracketassembly can be utilized to achieve complete movement of said knifeassembly to the ends of said vat. 2. The combination of claim 1 whereinsaid support assembly includes a generally elongated portion having anextension generally parallel to said vat extension, said connectingmeans includes a generally hollow tubular member disposed on andslideable relative to said elongated portion of said support assembly,said hollow tubular member having a length less than the extension ofsaid support assembly elongated portion so that it is movable to avariety of positions thereon, and wherein said connecting means furtherincludes means connecting said curd knife relative to said hollowtubular member so thatsaid hollow tubular member binds on said elongatedportion of said support assembly as a result of movement of said knifeassembly through medium in said vat.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said curd knife assembly includesan arm extending therefrom,

said support assembly includes a generally elongated portion extendinggenerally parallel to said vat extension,

said connecting means includes a generally hollow tubular memberdisposed on and slideable relative to said elongated portion of saidsupport assembly, said hollow tubular member having a length less thanthe extension of said support assembly elongated portion so that it ismovable to a variety of positions thereon,

a bracket connected to said hollow tubular member,

means defining a separable notch and register connection between saidarm and bracket through which said curd knife assembly is connected tosaid hollow tubular portion for movement therewith,

and a brace fixed to said bracket to engage said arm when said notch andregister connection is made and transmit a binding force to said hollowtubular member relative to said tubular portion of saidsupport assemblyas said carriage moves on said track tending to move said knife assemblythrough said vat.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said mounting bracket assemblyincludes at least one laterally extending support projecting from theextension of said track,

and wherein said support assembly includes a coupling extensiontelescoping on said support projection to make the connection betweensaid support assembly and said carriage and being selectively releasablefrom said support projection.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said track is positioned above andextends the length of said vat,

wherein said support means includes an elongated generally circular incross section portion suspended beneath said carriage and extendinggenerally parallel to said track and the longitudinal axis of said vat,

wherein said knife assembly includes a vertically projecting arm,

wherein said connecting means includes a generally hollow tubular memberslideably disposed on said elongated portion of said support means andhaving a length less than the extension of said support assemblyelongated portion so that said hollow tubular member is movable to avariety of positions thereon,

wherein said connecting means further includes a bracket assembly,

and including means engageable between said verti-' cal arm and saidbracket assembly for transmitting a force tending to bind said hollowtubular member on said support means elongated portion as a result ofmovement of said knife assembly through a medium in said vat. 6. Thecombination of claim 5 including means defining a separable notch andregister connection between said knife assembly arm and said bracketassembly, andwherein said bracket assembly includes a brace positionedadjacent said knife assembly arm when said notch and register connectionis engaged and against which said arm bears as said carriage moves saidknife assembly through a medium in said vat to cause said tubularportion to bind on said elongated portion for movement therewith. 7. Thecombination of claim 6 wherein said bracket assembly includes anupwardly opening generally rectangular notch adjacent said brace, andsaid arm includes a generally rectangular projection having a similarshape and size to said notch for registry into said notch to form saidnotch and register connection. I 8. The combination of claim 7 whereinsaid brace has oppositely directed surfaces facing in the direction oftravel of said carriage and said bracket assembly includes one of saidnotches on both sides of said brace.

1. Apparatus of the type described comprising, in combination, anelongated vat, a track extending along said vat, a carriage mounted formovement along said track, a curd knife assembly, a support assemblyhaving a longitudinal extension, a mounting bracket assembly attached toand movable with said carriage and connecting said support assembly tosaid carriage for movement therewith and with the longitudinal extensionof said support assembly generally parallel to the longitudinalextension of said vat, and means connecting said curd knife assembly tosaid support assembly for movement jointly therewith and selectively formovement relative thereto so that at opposite ends of said vat relativemovement between said curd knife assembly and said mounting bracketassembly can be utilized to achieve complete movement of said knifeassembly to the ends of said vat.
 2. The combination of claim 1 whereinsaid support assembly includes a generally elongated portion having anextension generally parallel to said vat extension, said connectingmeans includes a generally hollow tubular member disposed on andslideable relative to said elongated portion of said support assembly,said hollow tubular member having a length less than the extension ofsaid support assembly elongated portion so that it is movable to avariety of positions thereon, and wherein said connecting means furtherincludes means connecting said curd knife relative to said hollowtubular member so that said hollow tubular member binds on saidelongated portion of said support assembly as a result of movement ofsaid knife assembly through medium in said vat.
 3. The combination ofclaim 1 wherein said curd knife assembly includes an arm extendingtherefrom, said support assembly includes a generally elongated portionextending generally parallel to said vat extension, said connectingmeans includes a generally hollow tubular member disposed on andslideable relative to said elongated portion of said support assembly,said hollow tubular member having a length less than the extension ofsaid support assembly elongated portion so that it is movable to avariety of positions thereon, a bracket connected to said hollow tubularmember, means defining a separable notch and register connection betweensaid arm and bracket through which said curd knife assembly is connectedto said hollow tubular portion for movement therewith, and a brace fixedto said bracket to engage said arm when said notch and registerconnection is made and transmit a binding force to said hollow tubularmember relative to said tubular portion of said support assembly as saidcarriage moves on said track tending to move said knife assembly throughsaid vat.
 4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said mounting bracketassembly includes at least one laterally extendIng support projectingfrom the extension of said track, and wherein said support assemblyincludes a coupling extension telescoping on said support projection tomake the connection between said support assembly and said carriage andbeing selectively releasable from said support projection.
 5. Thecombination of claim 1 wherein said track is positioned above andextends the length of said vat, wherein said support means includes anelongated generally circular in cross section portion suspended beneathsaid carriage and extending generally parallel to said track and thelongitudinal axis of said vat, wherein said knife assembly includes avertically projecting arm, wherein said connecting means includes agenerally hollow tubular member slideably disposed on said elongatedportion of said support means and having a length less than theextension of said support assembly elongated portion so that said hollowtubular member is movable to a variety of positions thereon, whereinsaid connecting means further includes a bracket assembly, and includingmeans engageable between said vertical arm and said bracket assembly fortransmitting a force tending to bind said hollow tubular member on saidsupport means elongated portion as a result of movement of said knifeassembly through a medium in said vat.
 6. The combination of claim 5including means defining a separable notch and register connectionbetween said knife assembly arm and said bracket assembly, and whereinsaid bracket assembly includes a brace positioned adjacent said knifeassembly arm when said notch and register connection is engaged andagainst which said arm bears as said carriage moves said knife assemblythrough a medium in said vat to cause said tubular portion to bind onsaid elongated portion for movement therewith.
 7. The combination ofclaim 6 wherein said bracket assembly includes an upwardly openinggenerally rectangular notch adjacent said brace, and said arm includes agenerally rectangular projection having a similar shape and size to saidnotch for registry into said notch to form said notch and registerconnection.
 8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said brace hasoppositely directed surfaces facing in the direction of travel of saidcarriage and said bracket assembly includes one of said notches on bothsides of said brace.